I was hoping I could find a willing group to do American Fork Canyon early on Saturday mornings. Most of the "trail" is snowmobile packed fire road but it should be cool. I'd also love to try the Round Valley trails.I have 3 other Surly Moonlanders for rent if anyone is curious and wants to join in.

Id really like to try those trails as well. What size moonlanders do you have?

Id really like to try those trails as well. What size moonlanders do you have?

We have two 18's and a 16. Working our way to a bigger fleet. We had fun today although it was 7 degrees outside. Wow, it was cold. Great snow though. The 4.8 inch tires on the Moonlanders really helped.

Talk to the guys in Leadville

The key is to find the right course, because on packed snow OR deep/unrideable snow "normal" bikes will usually win (ie they are faster on hardpack and also faster to carry through deep snow) and the fatbikers will be angry. I know the winter Teva games (Vail) solved that problem by just making a separate category for bikes with 4"+ tires and handing out more prize money for that category last year.

I would show up (on my skinny bike) because I always like to support local races. I imagine permitting and logistics would be a nightmare unless you have a connection at a resort or the FS.

Fatties are great for epic adventures on all kinds of terrain. They aren't fast, though, even on many types of snow as compared with normal XC bikes. So if you keep the lycra jerks (ie, me) away, and make it all about fun, it could be great. But at that point some kind of enduro/poker ride type of event might make more sense. Strava/HRM/Zone 4 idiots will show up at anything advertised as a "race".

-Walt

Originally Posted by Silentfoe

What do you guys think the interest in our area would be regarding a Fat Bike race? 100% on snow?

where do you park to access the round valley trails for the winter? do you start over by the Park City Sports complex?

Also what are some of the rides you have been doing lately?

Couple rides I tried so far were:

1. Neffs on 1/16 rode up to about 7K, I think i needed some knobbier tires for the upper section, the ride down was sweet...passed by many people everyone was really nice

2. After Neffs headed over to the BST and then up Dry Creek...Dry Creek was riding good but it started getting dark so I turned around...may try this again from popperton park and go over to bobsled, might even try to ride down bobsled

3. Today 1/17 tried riding up Cardiff Fork(Mill B South) the snow started getting punchy, again I need a more aggressive rear tire to make some of these steeper climbs...hiked a bike for a bit and then rode back down (fun)

4. After Cardiff I headed up to the Solitude XC Track and did a lap around the whole track and the snowshoe track around the lake...that was awesome riding, but I got yelled at on my way back riding past the Nordic Center. I didnt realize that you had to pay to ride on the track and that it wasn't freely open to the public, I accessed the trail from the firestation...whoops!!

Anyways I had a conversation with the guy about fat bikes and he had no Idea what they were. I think there is a lot of opportunity for a maintained fat bike park during the winter, trails would be easy to make, maintain, and riding a bike on snow has zero impact on summer trails.

where do you park to access the round valley trails for the winter? do you start over by the Park City Sports complex?

I'm lucky, as my backdoor has singletrack right out to Round Valley. But there was a new trailhead built on the NE side of RV, that will probably be faster to get to than the PC Sports Complex area. From SLC, get off on Exit 146 (Highway 40), then get off on the first exit (Exit 2). Go right (West), take your first left (south on Highland Dr), and keep going till you get to the trailhead.

made it out to American fork yesterday...started out by seeing how far around Timp I could make it on Timpooneke Rd. started getting loose powder on the north side at about 7800, turned around and then climbed up the Alpine scenic hwy to the saddle...rode back down on a fun sled track to Salamander flat, then the road back to the TH

After that I parked at Tibble Fork Res. and rode up American fork to Mineral and back down...riding was not packed down as much compared to PC trails, and you are on wide roads the whole time

Today headed back up to PC and hit up Dubois to Robs, and that was the best ride so far on the fatty...100% singletrack and rideable, so fun!!

Has anyone ridden Rosebud/ Ambush to make a loop? Or does that interfere with Canyons operations?

Checked out White Pine in LCC this evening(night ride) and the trail was great!!, rode up to about 8800ft....upper sections may require a mixed bag of hike a bike... It was dark and I wasn't feeling it so I turned around...Would like to go back and try to make a push up to the lake...If you're looking for a nice quick sustained ride above the inversion this was a good one!!

oh yeah, not sure if any of you ride this trail in the summer but it is way easier now with snow

I have noticed a few Fatbike tire treads on the Corner Canyon Trails when I went out snowshoeing. I assumed it was off limits to bikes in the winter. The past winters have been muddy and slushy, is it now OK to ride with fatbikes as long as there is enough snow?

If the trail in CC is open, ie not chained off or signed, then it is open to the usual suspects. Just use your own judgement and don't ride muddy trails. So far this year mud hasn't been an issue. What I do mind is all the dogs off leash and the piles of sh!t everywhere.

I've been riding up corner canyon a few times this month. It is a lot of fun but can be very difficult. The edges of the trails are soft and the trail is narrow. More fat bike traffic would be great. It would help make the trails easier to ride. So far I've found Clark's and Canyon Hollow to be the most rideable. Here is a video of my last trip up CH and Clark's.